Apparatus for the manufacture of carbonized fuel



April 14, 931. s. R. ILLINGWORTH 1,800,633

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBONIZED FUEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1950 April 14, 1931. s. RRJLLINGWORTH APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBONIZED FUEL Filed June 25, 1930 2 SheetsSheet 2 all: a

Patented Apr. 14, 1931 warren sTAras PATENT!" QFFHQE STEWART ROY ILLINGWORTH, OF BRYNFEDWEN, EADYR, WALES, ASSIGNOR TO THE ILLINGWORTH CARBDNIZATION COMEANY, LIMITED, 0 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND .AIPPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURE OF GARBONIZED FUEL Application filed June 25, 1930, Serial No. 46

This invention relates to an apparatus for feeding or charging granular material, more especially coal into a storage bunker or other container.

5 The invention is more particularly intend-.

ed for use in charging a brickwork retort having rows of carbonizing retorts, such as illustrated in my prior British Patent No. 245,190 and with reference to which it is hereinafter described.

In the specification of my prior British Patent No. 248,077, we have described a process in which vibration is imparted to the retort during the period of charging and/or during the process of carbonization before the coke structurehas been formed, and by means of which a product of increased density and hardness'canbe obtained and coals of lower caking quality employed. In this process the retort may be vibrated by tapping itsupper part with blows in a vertical direction and in some cases pressure is applied to the fuel during vibration.

7 It has also been proposed in a continuously operating gas or like retort in which the'coal or other fuel is continuously distilled to provide constant stroke stamping or packing members adapted to contact with and thus to pack the head of coal in the mouth of the retort, the impact of the stamping members causing a vibration to pass to the material in the distillation chamber which facilitates its downward movement to discharge and prevents stoppage by cakingon the walls of the chamber.

The present invention is however, more particularly intended for use with a process of carbonization where the carbonizing period is distinct from and takes'place after the operation of filling the carbonizing retort, the object of the invention being to tamp or pack the charge from the start of the feeding and as the level of the materialin the retort rises.

We have found that by tamping the coal as it is fed into the retort, in some cases a greater density can be obtainedthan'in our previous process while it is no longer neces sary to vibrate the retort.

According to the present invention there- 3,748, and in Great Britain April 18, 1929.

fore, we tamp or pack the charge of coal or other granular material while it is being fed into the retort or other container in such manner that the finer sizes of coal fill the voids between the larger sized particles.

The coal or other material is tamped by means, such as a tamping rod which is given a reciprocating movement within the retort or container to impart a succession of taps or blows to the head of the charge, either continuously or intermittently, during the operation of feeding, the arrangement being such that the stroke of the tamping rod structure as a whole automatically decreases with the rise of the head of coal within the retort or container. lVhile it is preferable to tamp continuously the retort may be charged in two or more stages, that is to say only half or less than half .the complete charge to fill the retort, is fed at a time, each such charge being submitted to a number of taps.

It will however, be found more satisfactory to tamp the chargecontinuously, starting tamping at a height of about 6 from the bottom of the retort. It is to be understood also that the tamping of the charge is not intended to produce consolidation by means of a crushing effect, but rather solely by the a that for a larger stroke, a tamping rod of less weight may be employed, insomuch as the tamping rod does not have to withstand any mechanical resistance on striking the coal it is naturally a light member and its gross weight need not exceed 50 lbs.

The tamping rod may be actuated by means of a reciprocating bar, by means of which it is supported, being connected thereto by a clutch so arranged that resistance to downward movement of the rod releases the clutch, it

r arbie-fully: harge I v a 11o vsiirigttheroc l toliioi e lipwerdly With respeot to the reciprocating bar, 'up'which it climbs as the retort fills. In order to Close the do or'o fthe Charge hopper when the re 'thereby; doors having? ieedr' tm'ys and corre- 'spondi1 1g,ir1l Humberto theretorts in each.- row, and tampingrods orrespondingthere- V v V V deliverithe. materiel: intol rrioi th pieees 4, the r hi re iaj w edbyipr t bar it Wi 7 d'jfrom crank meehen si'nfori the car" e ns "mayb P o d-f l erm e t e. 7v ;doors;together;;,eaeh door;iselosedjon release- 20, e when rofdlhe's reached a he ght 'corre on ing togthe limitpfjitsupwarcl move,

' s ba-teh-by t 's po d g mmp' n ma:

mnt; on the r gc p oat nglh r whenith g m 1 The following; table gives {m e filled wi 'i-my. w p ielapp mwe== Leose frllingg? 1 [Weight ensity; Weight Derisity {Pound sv 2375 1 V elcomparisorr of. i h s n y be we nilo lyfill -girt tsam t.

' 7 Willtheri gra'vitate tort -'Mount nvt er an'Aisg'ii-r kingibeamfi,

"'i omP- dv 'e rallyatiflmiwhich beam isjoohneieted to a 95 torts is seenat D;

' L m'bff-rowsi fretortsi e'ompr'i'ses a margin-gear: 1T ,traflsversahle; over a; track arr'a ed: to, pass: [over each rowiof retorts, -a hopper carried 1 willgthiisbe seen th "t,whenthe trip; lei? 'cil lttoadd about. v by Weight offines (Ie'sstha'n inch mesh): to "the orned-1 ontheisizei of thei'coel.

FP ng rdrawr m 'eh- 1g 'rel I n-M1 mechanism foreha rging anti-tempr w r i eindiet i e bh-argin v elf: wing Whee s Bi y m an i 1 1- 1 which; it is tmzver ableoveriw w nk-.16 pas ing 5 3mm Y af'serie'si QfffOWSi- Of' cerhonizingkom sub the "finger jfrieti'onally to. engage a Silrfrifce I .i V. i egl-e e tiwher 19? {The invention;lsvilhistratediinfltheiaoeonrh r -W1 ,fit tt fi e the clutch willoperate 1 i agdiegrami latic craveoater pa lnds ra h -a retorts; the" top-pert ofbhe of" re-1' v The'c a'r maybe] hand or fpowerjdriven. is a charging hopper for 'chargiiig-arow of f subretorts simultaneously but which if neoessary (according.tothefnumber of retorts in the row) my be s uhdivided into separate compartments,

this "sub-division not being Shown. V f

, r 1 1 Referring rte-Figures: 1" and 2; the hopper; E is provided with outletsor diis'charge pipes o sp d ng innumbe to t number of t "o'arhonizing retorts; in'eaohflrow or'to be o charged simultaneously, correspond ng. doors throats; of which ext (arid(:1ownwaned ly a suflie 1 'Means(riot-shown) is I 7 111g all the doorsrsirhiiltaneously, and eachoperated," the correspoheh ng lateh 5Q-wil1 moved to ,re le rise, the 'door. held thereby whioh r operatedthrough mechanism; indi-oeted g n-1 vertioally reciprocating operating} bar 7 IQ Whose otlzierg;lower "ndfis conneot'ed'to an ermll. pivotally supported by the hopper E;

'12: is 1a. 'taintiping rocliwhi'ch} is "corm'eet'edl by I v means of a oliitch- Yr'ne'ch'ahli sm (see phl tiQ'tlv :11 l5, r .13 3? F gml rzl-T h pperatiilgvba ilfl 1;: t f {For generallpurposes it willbe 'foiintlysriffi- It; v

h 'closed positiorrfi; V v

rir' member 13,111; whic fligtmmping rodilzi is, secured;slidebleifori 'the're'c'ipro'eating bar" an cI f'carryiI -g en ecoe:Irtrioel -1y mounted; ended fin er l ho e s -a p dtnq 1 mall? ender the: Weight pi i theou'ter end of oni (the; recip 'rooaitin-gi'L er? the arra g ment. being; such. i thato any irpwerd mofiierrient Y of l h a 'wi re il' we impi r 9 1 d mwm m' It} is. gleethat the manner 9 y i' The-ofiterend t arm-like 5.; I When therefore 'affetort fis; f1f111", .the tempted f raIbBz; provided; 01: loweririg the,

there a final lift .clejalr retorts when; it-

' des charge another retort. For this purpose a bar 16 operated by pulley mechanism 17 may be arranged on the car so as to engage under the clutch members slidable on the reciprocating bars and which support the tamping rods, simultaneously engaging the outer ends 15 of the fingers and thereby releasing the clutches so that the tamping rods can be raised independently.

Referring now to Figure 3, the tamping rod 12 istelescopically mounted within a tube 18, which is telescopic within a tube 19, these two tubes, 18 and 19, constituting a telescopic equivalent of the rod 10.

Fast on the lower ends of each tube 18 and 19 is a housing member 20 formed with a conical opening 21 within which rides a cage 22. The cage 22 carries ball bearings 23 adapted respectively to contact with the tube 18 and tamping rod 12. Each cage also is provided with a collar 24 and as shown in Figure 3 is spring urged by spring 25, or by means of the weight 26 (Figure 4) to a position where the balls 23 will wedge themselves into the conical annulus formed between the conical wall of the cage 22 and the respective outer surfaces of the tube 18 and rod 12. It is thus obvious that the rod 12 is free to telescope within or move upwardly inside the tube 18 but that it is prevented by the locking action of the balls 23 in the cage 22 against any outward or clownward movement. These two telescopic rods 18 and 19 are, as stated, used in lieu of the single operating-rod 10 and the purpose is to shorten the length of the operating rod to the end that space above the retort may be saved. When the-tamping rod 12 is to be raised out of the retort, either one or both clutches have to be released by such means as shown in Fig. 1, namely a bar16, or by a forked hand lever 27, shown in Fig. 4, or by any other suitable means. The releasin means may engage under the collars 24 so as to raise the ball carrying tubes 22 upwardly into released position. In Fig. t I show a weight 26 in lieu of the collar 24 to thus do away with the springs 25.

Normally when feeding coal or other granular material into a hopper it will be observed that the coal tends to build itself up in a conically or similar shaped heap beneath the mouth of the discharge with the result that the heavier pieces of coal run down the sides of the heap thus formed causing an uneven distribution with the fines in the centre.

By means of this invention it is possible to control the surface of the charge as it is fed into the hopper or retort so that it is maintained substantially level throughout charging and the heavy and light particles evenly distributed over the cross section of the hopper. This feature it will be appreoperatingciated is an important factor in retort practice where it is essential that carbonization is uniform over the whole retort.

- It will be noted that in the apparatus of this invention the coal isfed into the centre of the retort and that the axis of the tamping rod is located centrally within the retort so that the axis of the feed and tamping coincidewith one another.

It should be understood that while the present invention is more especially intended for use in charging retortsof carbonizing apparatus, it is also applicable to charging apparatus generally.

l/Vhat I claim is 1.' In tamping mechanism suitable for charging granular material into a substantially vertical carbonizing retort, the combination of means for continuously feeding the material into the retort, a tamping member adapted to be reciprocatecl within said retort for imparting a succession of taps to the head of material during charging, driving means for continuously reciprocating said member at high speed, and clutch means for automatically clamping said member to the driving means during upward movement, embodying devices whereby said clutch means is released on resistance to each downward movement of said tamping member.

2. In tamping mechanism suitable for charging granular material into a substantially vertical oarbonizing retort, the co1nbination of means for continuously feeding the material into the retort, a tamping structure embodying a tamping member adapted to be reciprocated within said retort for imparting taps in rapid succession to the head of material during charging, driving means for continuously reciprocating said tamping structure at high speed, and means for automatically decreasing the operative length of said tamping structure with the rise of mateg rial in the retort.

3. In tamping mechanism suitable for charging granular material into a substantially vertical carbonizing retort, the combination of a tamping member adapted to be reciprocated within said retort for imparting a succession of taps to the head of material during charging, driving means for reciprocating said member at high speed, and clutch means for clamping said member to the driving means during upward movement, but which is released on resistance to downward movement of said tamping member, said driving means embodying a pair of telescoping tubes, a clutch cooperating between the two tubes, and another clutch cooperating between the inner tube and said tamping member.

4:. In a tamping mechanism, a tampingrod whose tamping end is adapted to enter a container for the tamped material, an actuating-rod arranged in parallelism with the 

